Picture Messaging And Mobile Internet Drive Mobile Usage
The Mobile Data Association (MDA) has today released a new UK Mobile Report, which shows that a significantly wider variety of data usage has driven overall growth figures in 2007.
SMS growth remained strong, but a combination of static and video messages and internet usage has resulted in a total of over 56,922 million texts being sent in the UK last year.
Picture messaging (MMS) for the year came in at 449 million, whilst Mobile internet (MI) users stood at over 17.5 million.
All three key indicators surged in December, with SMS volumes up from 5.3 billion to six billion, MMS from 37.8 million in October to 57.6 million in December, and MI users from 16.2 million to over 17.5 million.
Over 290 million text messages were sent on New Year’s Eve, 30% more than New Year’s Eve 2006, whilst almost two million video and picture messages were sent on New Year’s Eve 2007. From Christmas Eve to Boxing Day over six million video and picture messages were sent.
17 million people accessed the internet on their phone in December. This equates to 23% of mobile users in the UK, whilst six billion text messages were sent in December 2007 – almost 5,000 every second.
This is the MDA’s first ever aggregation of MMS statistics from UK mobile operators and provides a clear indication of the interest UK consumers have in snapping and sending picture and video messages. Camera phones have been available in the UK market for around five years, and unlike text messaging, not all UK handsets have picture and video capabilities enabled.
This makes the headline statistics even more compelling and suggests significant MMS data growth as picture and video camera phone penetration increases. The only viable benchmark that can be applied to assess MMS growth is the explosion of text messaging, which the MDA has been tracking for nine years.
It took six years for text messaging to reach the one billion per year mark. MMS has today, after only five years and 50% penetration of camera phones, achieved 50% of this target already.
The MDA sees these statistics as a powerful indication and foundation for even further MMS growth in 2008 based on the ease of use to snap and send.
Mike Short, chairman of the MDA, said: “The report contains some very compelling indications that mobile usage is evolving. While the strong upward curve of SMS volumes continues, perhaps a more telling headline number is the penetration of mobile internet usage and multi-media messaging.
“We are really starting to see a much greater variety of mobile data volumes. New devices, competitive data tariffs and wider content choice mean it has never been easier for users to send an email, take a picture or access internet content. This is a very important set of indicators.”
He continued: “The mobile industry remains one of the fastest growing sectors throughout the world. Whether you look at Asia, India, Europe or the UK, the story is the same – mobile technology is enhancing and even shaping the way we live our daily lives.”
Mobile Data Association: 01922 419600 www.mda-mobiledata.org